Friday, May 30, 2014

What da shit you guys?! Tonight's Protomartyr show at Holy Mountain isn't sold-out yet?! Before you go any further get yourself a $10 ticket because the doors open in less than three hours and by all rights this show should have sold-out last week.

It just goes to show what a strange bubble SXSW can be. Last week I saw Eagulls who were tremendously buzzy before and during the festival but there was hardly anyone at their headlining show last week? Protomartyr came out of the festival critical darlings and several people whose taste I trust told me they were great at the festival but somehow this show isn't sold-out? What's going on Austin? Has the bro-culture surpassed the blog-culture? I know downtown is mostly brofessionals and trustafarians now but we working-class indie kids need to do our part too.

Part of me is afraid that bands like Protomartyr will woo Austin bands away to Detroit. As our city gets more crowded and expensive, urban wastelands like Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh become more and more appealing to artists. After doing a quick Craigslist survey, it looks like you could live three months in Detroit for the cost of one month in Austin. Le sigh.

Regardless of trends in urban development and the possibility that we could lose our favorite bands to cheaper cities we need to focus on right now and right now we are preparing for tonight's show at Holy Mountain. We've already discussed the fact that Protomartyr is the headlining act and that they're from Detroit. Playing the support slots tonight will be Xetas and Simple Circuit. Both of those bands live here so don't let the Proto guys convince them to move ok?

Thursday, May 29, 2014

It's the last Thursday in May! You know what that means?! It means there's a bunch of cool shit going on tonight! Should I finish every sentence in this post like this?! Can we feign this level of excitement?!?! The answer is, no. We can't do that and we won't do that.

Chaos in Tejas isn't back per se but they are presenting 7 shows over the course of 5 days and two of those shows will take place this evening over at Red 7. Floor reunited last year and decided to make a new record, which came out last month. Tonight you can hear them play songs from their first new album in over a decade simply by purchasing a $15 ticket and checking out their set on the inside stage.

Maybe you're not really into "Doom Rock"? That's cool, you might want to stick with Red 7 but just head to the alley out back because Parquet Courts are headlining the outside stage tonight. The inside and outside shows tonight do require separate ticket purchases and they will be using both the front and back doors, so to speak. Parquet Courts' new album is available in a limited-edition available exclusively to 7 record shops around the country including our-own End of an Ear.

Perhaps you have some sort of issue with Red 7? You don't like places that don't sell Budweiser or something? Don't sweat it because right across the street at Empire Control Room you can catch Heavenly Beat. Tickets for this show are $12 and don't expect Heavenly Beat to start until late in the evening, the event info specifies that the show will end at 2am.